Of Ginger Ale, Fairies and Nighttime Paranoia
by star.spills
Summary: A random London Life oneshot. Megan becomes suspicious about Little London after realizing she's been living with Don Paolo - while Deke's been paranoid since Megan moved in.


"Now, all you need to do is check if Don Paolo's in his room or not. Remember, Little London owes you in debt!" Chelmey's words became less clear as I dashed away towards Humble Homes, where the so-called villain and Master of Disguise Don Paolo was living, waving my hands to inform Chelmey that I heard him.

Running across the streets, I managed not to bump into Gordon (surprisingly enough), who was silently lamenting on his eternally-single status. As I was nearing to the building, something awful struck me like a brick.

Don Paolo lives in Humble Homes.

_I_ live in Humble Homes.

Cursing my slow brain, I decided to check up on his room anyway.

I knocked on Ingrid's door. "Oh, is that you, Maggie? Come in!" Ingrid said.

"So, what brings you here today? I'll make some tea for you-

"No, no. I'm just here to ask you something." It felt rude to just reject her polite offers outright, but I needed to confirm if I really do live in the same building with a criminal.

Ingrid seemed to ignore me, and handed over the cup of tea anyway. I sighed, sipping the apparently oversweetened beverage. "Does anyone else live here besides you and me?" I asked, to the point.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, nearly dropping her cup, but caught it at the last minute, "Why yes, there is. He lives on the top floor, on the tenth room. I've never really seen him around here though."

"Who is he?"

"Someone…" the old woman tried to recall, "…someone named Paul. Donathan Paul, I think? Don Paul?"

He must've used an alias – and a bad one, at that.

"What does he look like?" I asked again, trying not to sound like a police interrogating a suspect or a bystander.

"I-I don't know, actually. He came here a few years ago, I think – he just said he wanted a room and slammed the money on the counter. I didn't have a good look of his face; he had a beard and wore a hat…"

I was a little bit disappointed on her lack of information to confirm that he really _is_ Don Paolo, but then again, it would make sense that he wore a fake beard and hat.

"Well, thank you. I suppose I'll… be off now?"

All Ingrid gave was a polite smile. Poor woman must've been confused with all those questions.

After taking a stroll up the stairs (which hurts my feet, since I forgot to change from my sky-high heels to something more comfortable), I reached the second floor, which looked empty and rather deserted.

Looking around, my eyes caught a "10" sign hung crookedly on the last door in the hallway, its paint starting to chip from old age. The door isn't locked, and I stepped inside carefully. If Don _was_ there, I crossed my fingers that the microwaved pizza I had in my bag would slow him down if I threw it straight towards his face.

The room was an absolute dump, as though nobody had entered for at _least_ a few months. There was a rather dirty bucket sitting on the floor collecting dust, the carpet was ragged and dirty, the wallpaper was peeling off, and to top it all off, everything smelled horrendously like smoke.

Before I started a coughing fit, I ran out of the room as quickly as possible. It was obvious that Paolo wasn't there – and I sure hope I never run into him if he was.

"So Don Paolo's room is empty?" Chelmey repeated my statement, his face cross. "Damn it! Well, thank you for your help anyways." he handed over a few hundred Wealth, which somehow made me a little happier.

Walking home, I started to wonder if Little London is all that normal.

. . .

"Hey Meg." Deke greeted, taking a seat across me in a corner of the Queens Bar. That's weird; Deke usually hangs out in front of the casino at evenings. Ah, whatever. I needed someone to talk to anyways.

Anita came over, asking us what we wanted to order. "A glass of ginger ale and fish and chips, please." I inquired, which prompted her to look at Deke.

I could make some fish and chips myself, but I couldn't be bothered half the time and they never tasted as good as the ones they sold here.

"Uh…" he hesitated, looking at the menu, "…I'll have what she has."

"Alright, two glasses and ginger ale, two plates of fish and chips." Anita then sped over to the counter quickly before we could nod or say yes.

I tried to break the ice. "So, Deke, not to be nosy or anything, but what are you doing here? You don't usually eat at restaurants."

He shrugged. "I just wanted a change from the usual walking-around-the-casino-forty-times before I get sleepy. Besides, it's a nice place to think about the whole fairy fiasco."

I wouldn't say that a _bar_ is a good place to do that, but I kept my mouth shut.

"Everything used to be so peaceful around here."

"Really?" I let a chuckle escape my mouth, "I find that hard to believe – I just found out that Don Paolo lives with me, in Humble Homes!"

"What?!" Deke reacted exaggeratedly, though his loudness was drowned out by the music and the sound of other patrons. "Why aren't you moving out already?"

"I don't know, I think I'm starting to get attached to my room." I glanced at the vacant table next to my seat, noticing its isolated atmosphere. "Besides, I've got nowhere else to go. I don't have enough of this "happiness" yet to move out."

"Oh." Deke frowned. "Sorry, Meg."

"Don't be. I keep bumping into those bats all the time… maybe I need glasses. How the heck did those bats appear on daytime?"

Deke suddenly raised his fists up in the air (just like Pauly). "I know! They're… _magic_ bats!"

"Are you kidding me." I glared at him skeptically.

"But it makes _total_ sense! With all the fairies and fake people in disguise stealing _my_ gem… There's a conspiracy here, I can smell it!"

"Don't be so paranoid, they're just bats! Why do bats have anything to do with this fairy thing?"

"I'm s-sorry for interrupting…" a shaky voice said before Deke could continue with his crazy theories.

We looked at him simultaneously, realizing it was Hazel, carrying a tray of our order.

"Hi, Hazel! I didn't know you work here."

"Y-yeah… I needed money to buy a birthday gift…" He put down the plates on our table.

"For who?" I knew the answer to that question already, but seeing Hazel fidget unnecessarily amuses me. He ended up not answering, predictably.

"So," Deke spoke after Hazel left. "Where were we?"

"Umm, about fairies and conspiracy?"

"Right. Believe me; those bats are working with the _evil_ fairy to disrupt Little London! And they needed _my_ red gem to do it!"

I facepalmed, downing half of my ginger ale in one gulp.

This is gonna be a long night.

. . .

_**So, do you like it? Review, please! Megan is my avatar in London Life, btw. Sorry if some details are wrong, but London Life isn't really Canon sooo… **_

_**Anyways, during this story, Megan wears a Duffle Coat, a Bow Tie, a Bubble Skirt (though from the coat it looks black instead of yellow), White Gloves, a Straw Hat (I pretend it's a sunhat instead) and Sky-high Heels (as mentioned, she still hasn't changed them). Her hair is long, straight and strawberry blonde. Just thought I should share that useless information, haha.**_

_**London Life is so addictive…**_


End file.
